In this article…
🇦🇱 Albania to Qualify for the World Cup 2026
🇬🇦 Gabon to Qualify for the World Cup 2026
🇯🇴 Jordan to Qualify for the World Cup 2026
The following is a breakdown of three nations that we think could qualify for their first-ever World Cup in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaigns.
The new 2026 World Cup format will see an additional 12 teams qualify for the tournament, which will provide added opportunity to the lesser known nations to make history and compete in the competition for the very first time.
We have one tip from Europe, where qualifying will get underway in this international break, whilst our other tips from Africa and Asia feature nations who are already in the middle of their qualifying campaigns and have put themselves in good positions to progress to the finals in Mexico, Canada, and the USA next year.
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🇦🇱 Albania
Albanian football is strengthening and this was best displayed by their qualification for the European Championships, in which they were unfortunately placed in a group with Croatia, Italy and Spain – three of the biggest heavyweights in European football. They unsurprisingly finished bottom of the group, but this doesn’t tell the whole story, the Albanians have a lot of promising players with more and more featuring regularly in Europe’s top five leagues.
They only lost one of their eight games in qualifying for the European Championships, seeing off Czech Republic and Poland to top the group and secure their progression to the tournament. They’ll fancy their chances of navigating through their group this time around.
They’re mixed in with England who will be favourites to top the group but after that, it’s quite open with the likes of Andorra, Serbia and Latvia battling it out for 2nd place. This race is quite open, none of these sides have a clear claim to 2nd place giving Albania their first chance of reaching a World Cup, if they notch 2nd, they’ll progress to a play-off to decide whether they will feature in the tournament.
Albania certainly have players that could feature at the World Cup and not look out of place, a spine of Djimsiti, Asllani and Broja should be strong enough to see their name in the hat for the World Cup draw come the summer of 2026.
They’ve shown they can be hard to beat in qualification rounds which is an excellent trait in international football and puts them in with a real chance of making history for Albanian football.
🇬🇦 Gabon
Gabon are in an excellent position to qualify for the 2026 World Cup for the very first time. The African nation led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang currently sit 2nd in their qualification group, only behind AFCON Champions Ivory Coast who lead the group by just one point.
African qualifiers tend to be quite tight and occasionally unpredictable, something which is reflective of football on the continent as a whole as shown regularly in AFCON. That being said, Gabon may just have the edge on the other teams in their group, they’re joined by Burundi, Kenya, Gambia and Seychelles.
Gabon have managed to win three of their four qualifying games so far, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Ivory Coast who are likely to top the group given the quality they have at their disposal as reigning AFCON Champions.
Gabon have the firepower of Aubameyang which could prove decisive at a level where goals can be hard to come by. He isn’t the only notable player in the Gabon squad, Mario Lemina also anchors the midfield and they have a host of players who play in Europe’s top five leagues, which could give them that extra pedigree to navigate their way through to their first-ever World Cup campaign.
The top team in each group will qualify for the tournament, with the four best 2nd placed nations from groups A-I to feature in a play-off round.
🇯🇴 Jordan
The game is growing quickly in Asia and Jordan are very much part of that upward trajectory. Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina at the recent World Cup materialised the presence of Asian nations on the very biggest stage, a development that has been coming for some time. Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea are very much leading this charge of the Asian nations, but countries like Jordan are starting to show signs that they can be the latest to prove their worth on the biggest footballing stage.
Jordan currently sit 3rd in their qualification group, just behind Iraq and South Korea but with a three point buffer between them and Oman. A top four finish at this stage would be enough to see them progress to the next stage of qualification, whilst a top two finish would see them qualify for the tournament automatically – a path that’s still possible given that they are just two points behind Iraq and are set to play them in the last game of qualifying.
The majority of Jordan’s players play in a variety of Asian leagues so there aren’t many names in the squad that those outside of the continent will be familiar with, but the nation has shown progression recently on the international stage.
They finished as runners-up in the 2023 Asian Cup which shows they can navigate international competitions and could have enough to see off their Asian opponents in qualifying and reach their first-ever World Cup.
Here on Andy’s Bet Club we will have Football Betting Predictions available each week, including our International Football Betting Tips. Our coverage also goes more in-depth into the action, with our Nations League Acca Tips, Home Nations Acca Tips, and our World Cup Qualifying Acca Tips all available throughout this March international break.
If you like this 2026 World Cup Tips article, be sure to check out our 2026 World Cup Outright Winner Predictions too, featuring the three nations we fancy to lift the trophy.
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* All odds, stats & data displayed correct at the time of publishing *
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